William Raphael Battle, IV

Project Summary

Parents often face information overload when searching for parenting advice online, with vast amounts of content that can be overwhelming, unverified, vague, or opinion-based. 1st Time Parenting was designed to streamline access to reliable, actionable information, while creating a community-oriented platform for support and connection.  

Problem:
Busy parents need a centralized, trustworthy, and easy-to-navigate hub for parenting content without distraction or misinformation.  

Goal:
Design a responsive website and app that empowers and prepares parents with high-value content, tools, and community connections.

User Research

Approach:

• Conducted interviews with parents (primarily first-time parents) to understand how they search for parenting information.

• Identified key behaviors and pain points around sourcing content for parenting tasks. 

Key Insights & Pain Points:

• Information overload: Too much content with varying quality. 

• Opinion vs. fact: Users struggled to find data-driven or expert-focused resources. 

• Filtering challenges: Difficult to quickly filter relevant content. 

• Vagueness: Users wanted practical, real-world guidance tailored to real parenting scenarios. 

Persona:

• Sonya L. — Busy professional and first-time parent who needs streamlined, trusted information to handle parenting tasks like getting her child on a sleep schedule.

Design Process

1. Paper Wireframes

• Explored base layouts for key screens, including homepage and navigation for multiple screen sizes. 

2. Digital Wireframes

• Built structured layouts with carousel elements on the homepage to preview recommended articles and resources. 

3. Low-Fidelity Prototype

• Mapped core flows, with focus on article discovery, resource browsing, and user guidance. 

4. Usability Study — Unmoderated

• 5 participants (3 men, 2 women, ages 30–45) tested key tasks remotely.

• Observed navigation confusion, need for clearer cues, and desire for confirmation messages on key actions.

Key Iteration

Solution

• Adjusted layout and enhanced cues to guide users through article discovery. 

• Added confirmation step before users post articles to prevent accidental posts. 

• Refined visual hierarchy toward minimal, straightforward layouts with controls at the top.

Issue

• Navigation and top-level content unclear.

• Users needed confirmation before posting content.

• Users expected clean, goal-oriented UI.

Accessibility Considerations

• Color palette & contrast tested to meet Web Content Accessibility Guidelines. 

• Multiple navigation paths were provided to support users with differing preferences. 

• Designed to function across a wide range of devices (responsive layout). 

Impact & Takeaways

• Impact:

The responsive site and app enable users to connect with professionals and other parents, access curated resources, and gain reliable assistance for parenting questions — reducing overwhelm and increasing confidence. 

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• Peer feedback:

“Babies aren’t a one size fits all, what works for one child may not necessarily work for another.” 

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• What I Learned:

Designing parallel responsive web and mobile experiences requires intentional adaptation rather than direct replication — layouts and interaction flows must be purposeful for each form factor. 

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• Next Steps:

Conduct another round of usability studies to ensure the latest design iterations fully address pain points and refine further based on user insights.